BULLETIN 1
Experts Pinpoint Rice Proteins Vital in Drought Stress Tolerance and Yield

A study, conducted by researchers at Yuxi Normal University and partners in China, investigated the role of a rice protein (OsbZIP35) in response to stress, particularly drought. The preprint of their findings is available in Research Square.
The research team developed rice plants lacking the OsbZIP35 protein, which were found to be more susceptible to drought at all growth stages. The knockout mutants also showed lower germination rates, weaker growth, and more harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, they found another protein, OsSAPK3, which can modify OsbZIP35, and both are involved in the plant's response to drought stress through abscisic acid signaling.
Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that OsbZIP35 is important for rice plant's drought tolerance and yield. It regulates the plant's response to stress, including ROS production and signaling pathways. The results could be used to develop rice varieties that are more resistant to drought.
Read the abstract in Research Square.
See https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/ged/article/default.asp?ID=21229

BULLETIN 2
Study reveals Africa will reach 1.5°C climate change threshold by 2040 even under low emission scenarios

Photo: Dassanech pastoralist moves his livestock to a water point in drylands of South Omo, SNNPR, Ethiopia (credit: ILRI/Fiona Flintan)

 

  

 

CGIAR February 28 2025

New research highlighted in CABI Reviews suggests that all five subregions of Africa will breach the 1.5°C climate change threshold—the limit stipulated by the Paris Agreement—by 2040 even under low emission scenarios.
A team of scientists from the University of Zimbabwe, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya, and the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) conducted a literature review to develop a framework for just transition pathways for Africa’s agriculture towards low emission and climate resilient development under 1.5°C of global warming.
They found that despite Africa emitting less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, the 1.5°C climate change threshold will be approached by 2040 in all five subregions of Africa, even under low emission scenarios.
See https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/study-reveals-africa-will-reach-1-5c-climate-change-threshold-by-2040-even-under-low-emission-scenarios

 

SCIENTIFIC NEWS

Knocking out artificially selected gene GmAOC4H8 improves germination in soybean
Wei Zhang, Songsong Li, Wenjing Xu, Qiong Wang, Hongmei Zhang, Xiaoqing Liu, Xin Chen, Donghe Xu & Huatao Chen
Theoretical and Applied Genetics; February 24 2025; vol.138; article 54

 

  

 

Abstract
Seed germination is an essential stage in the life cycle of flowering plants, influencing the field emergence rates of seeds. Consequently, the role of GmAOC4 in soybean seed germination was investigated in the present study. Results suggested that the chloroplast-localized GmAOC4 exhibited high expression levels in the roots and young pods and during the seed germination stage in soybeans. It was found that GmAOC4 has been artificially selected during soybean domestication and improvement and that GmAOC4H8 showed repressed seed germination, of which the frequency in landraces and cultivars decreased when compared with wild soybean. Knocking out GmAOC4H8 via CRISPR/Cas9 led to enhanced germination in gmaoc4 mutants, suggesting its negative regulation on seed germination in soybeans. Additionally, decreased endogenous jasmonic acid (JA) and JA precursor, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid, were found in gmaoc4 mutants. RNA-seq analyses revealed that 91 and 269 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were up-regulated and down-regulated in gmaoc4 mutants, respectively. Among these DEGs, three genes were involved in JA biosynthetic and signaling pathways. Our results offer new insights into the mechanism of soybean seed germination regulation by GmAOC4.
See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00122-025-04840-z